Ex-treasurer Swan gets new honour

Former treasurer Wayne Swan has been appointed to a global think-tank set up to examine economic growth which is fair and broadly shared.

Mr Swan, who in 2011 was named by Euromoney magazine as finance minister of the year, has been made a member of the Inclusive Prosperity Commission.

The commission is a project of the US-based Center for American Progress and is co-chaired by former US treasury secretary Larry Summers and Britain's shadow chancellor Ed Balls.

The commission's website says it meets three times a year to discuss "new research and evaluate existing analysis, review case studies, and hear expert testimony from specialists in the public and private sector".

"The group will be tasked to produce a robust set of policy proposals to establish sustainable and inclusive prosperity over the long term in developed economies, with a specific focus on creating good middle-class jobs."

Mr Swan attended his first meeting earlier in March.

The former Rudd and Gillard government treasurer is also working on a book to be released in the second half of 2014.